Hollywood Gets Art Event

Organizers Are Aiming For An Upscale Festival

Hollywood — Attention artists! The city is seeking creative individuals for its International Art & Music Festival.

Artists and crafters have until Monday to submit applications and slides of their works for the event, to be held Nov. 1 and 2 in downtown Hollywood.

The festival is expected to draw up to 75 artists, who will display and sell their wares along Hollywood Boulevard, between 21st and 20th avenues, said Toni Bridges, city special events coordinator.

It has been a while since the downtown district has seen an art festival, she said.

Years ago, art festivals were held mostly along Harrison Street because of the growing number of artists who had opened studios there. City officials decided to organize the upcoming two-day show because they think it will be well received, Bridges said.

"We really believe the time is right to give our residents an upscale art show," she said.

In addition to the art, musicians will be playing soft, acoustic tunes in different locations throughout the festival. Pushcart vendors will sell beverages, but no food.

If folks want something to eat, they can visit one of the many eateries along the avenues.

"We have wonderful restaurants," Bridges said.

The festival will be a juried art show, meaning each applicant's work will be judged by a panel.

Each application must be accompanied by a $20 fee and four slides. Three of the slides are to show the artist's work. The fourth will depict their booth display.

Artists and crafters who are accepted by the panel for the show will pay $106 for a 10-by-10-foot space.

Applications are being accepted for all mediums. Judging will be done in eight categories -- claywork, crafts, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting and watercolors, photography and sculpture, Bridges said.

Cash prizes totaling $2,500 will be awarded, said Roni Lipton, president of Artful Events, a company in Boca Raton that is overseeing the festival's artists.

Having a juried show will allow organizers to be more selective.

"You want to keep high standards," Lipton said.

Lipton agrees that it's time for the city to have its own festival.

"Downtown is such a growing, rejuvenated area," she said. "The venue is beautiful."

Artful Events also promotes the Wellington Art Festival in Wellington, held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Hollywood city officials should expect the festival's first year to be the hardest. "Then word gets around and it will grow," she said.

Lipton cited Wellington, where the number of booth spaces doubled from 75 to 150 artists last year. The next show, the Wellington event's third, organizers are expecting another large turnout, she said.

Joy Satterlee, deputy director of the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood at 1650 Harrison St., said she thinks the city's plans to have a festival downtown is fabulous.

Art and culture center staff are assisting city officials by giving them names of artists who might want to be in the show, Satterlee said.

"This will hopefully bring more people to the area to learn about the merchants and the art and culture center," she said. "The more exposure people have to art, the better it is for the cultural arts community."

INTERNATIONAL ART & MUSIC FESTIVAL

For more information on the International Art & Music Festival, call the City of Hollywood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts office at 954-921-3404 or Artful Events at 561-241-6262.

Applications for artists and crafters can be picked up at the City of Hollywood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts office, 1940 Harrison St. in Hollywood, or online at www.floridaartfestivals.com.